Guided, Self-Guided & Outfitted Moose HuntsMoose hunting in Alaska is becoming tougher every year due to increased pressure from predators across the state and increased hunting pressure close to Anchorage. Willow Air is based just north of Anchorage, and has taken moose hunters to far western Alaska for over 30 years and has dedicated float planes based in McGrath during moose season. We no longer take any moose hunts out of Willow; due to the fact the success rate was so low.

Don't Fly From AnchorageWe try to tell hunters, whoever you choose to go hunting with, do not fly to the bush from the Anchorage area. Sure it is cheaper; you can fly into Anchorage and hop in a bush plane and be hunting right away. You do not have to spend more time and money taking a commercial flight into another town before you get on the bush plane and go hunting. It’s easy to do and there are many large air taxis based in Anchorage competing for the same areas to hunt.

That’s why hunting is so poor anywhere that is reachable from Anchorage in a bush plane. In my opinion, all those areas were hunted out years ago. It would obviously be easier to hunt out of our home base of Willow. Our pilots and ground crew live in Willow. By moving our airplanes to McGrath, we increase our expenses. When we move to McGrath for the month of September, we have to supply housing for them.

McGrath, AlaskaYou might say, why McGrath? Good question, since we have no facility there, it is quite a commitment on our part. We go there because it is the closest town to what we have found to be the best moose hunting in Alaska. It is also a friendly town with excellent accommodations. If you are a serious hunter and want a trophy moose, you should consider Willow Air. No one will work harder to make your hunt an enjoyable experience.

The Innoko Wildlife refuge is divided into 3 exclusive guide-use areas. We now have all three of these areas, making us the only guide on the entire refuge which is 3,850,000 acres or approx. 6000 square miles. This is the first time since the refuge was established that one guide has had the entire refuge. This area has some of the best moose hunting country that Alaska has to offer. This country is extremely remote and we are very fortunate to have an exclusive in this area.

This hunt is done out of comfortable tent base camps with plywood floors and spike camps used to get into remote areas. This hunt is fully guided and outfitted with a full kitchen and cook at our base camps. Once in camp, hunting will be done from boats with either a prop or jet engine making it possible to cover many miles a day in search of that trophy bull. Most hunting will be done close to the river with minimal walking.

Another advantage you will have hunting with Alaska Guide & Outfitting Service, LLC is the fact we own our own airplanes and don’t have to rely on someone else to fly you in and out of the bush.

The moose season is 21 days long so we divide the season into two ten-day hunts. Sept. 4-15 and Sept. 15-26. We only take 4 to 6 hunters each hunt, between our 2 guide camps, optimizing your chances for success. There are also grizzly, black bear, wolf, and wolverine in the area that can be taken at no additional charge (tags must be purchased before the hunt.)

Extreme Remote Guided Float Hunt – for Moose/Grizzly/Black Bear
We are now offering a guided remote float hunt on one of our best float hunt rivers. This river has been extremely successful for our self-guided hunters. This should be the most successful guided hunt we have ever done. This hunt will only be done on a 1x1 basis. You will float the river with just you and your guide. This hunt is for the hardy hunter that wants to harvest a trophy moose but does not require the luxury of our fixed guide camp hunt. You will be staying in a small tent on sleeping pads with no cots or frills since the camp must be moved every couple days as you float down the river. Meals will be mostly freeze dried and you will have to pitch in and help the guide set up camp and help with chores. This extra effort and less comfortable conditions will be rewarded with unbelievable hunting. This hunt will be done during the middle of the season which tends to be the best time. Our guides usually do an early and a late hunt because we do this hunt in the middle of the season your guide will only be doing one hunt which makes it a very expensive hunt for us to do but worth every penny it costs.

Cost $24,000 for 13 days (11 days of hunting) dates Sept 10-22

Which Hunt Is The Right Hunt For You?
We offer two different types of hunts, fixed camp hunts and float hunts. We are happy to book whichever type of hunt you like and would be happy to discuss the pros and cons of both with you. These hunts are based on a minimum of two people and, except for the Extreme Remote Float, are on an 11-day schedule with day 1 and day 11 being fly in/fly out of the bush days, with 9 full days of hunting. There are also black bear, wolf, and wolverine in the area and can be taken at no additional charge (tags must be purchased before the hunt.)

Fixed Camp Hunt
Our most popular hunt is our fixed-camp hunt. We drop you off on a stretch of river where we can take off and land with a full load. You set up your camp and hunt from that spot with a boat and motor that we provide. You can realistically hunt approximately a five mile radius from that spot. There are a lot of oxbow lakes and sloughs off the river that are excellent hunting and water is always close, making your packing much easier than carrying moose meat out long distances on your back.

What makes this hunt popular is that you are in one spot long enough to find where the moose are frequenting, and spend time hunting and calling them and figuring out their patterns. You also only have to set camp up one time. You can hunt until dark every night and come back to a comfortable camp. You can also leave camp at daylight without having to break down camp before you leave. Additionally, we can often land there, before your hunt is over, and pick up your moose. That is what we are famous for; our service and ability to do more than just drop you off and pick you up.

Float Hunt
The second type of hunt we offer is a float hunt. A float hunt starts at one point and ends at a designated pickup point downriver. Between the two points we are unable to land and check on you. The advantages of a float hunt are that you are able to hunt much more area and sometimes an area that is more remote and less hunted. The disadvantages are that you have to set up and breakdown camp several times, usually in the dark. You are on your own for the entire hunt. We are not able to land and take out your moose when you kill it. You must haul it with you for the entire float. Moose floats are 60-120 river miles.

Floats can be very rewarding, but you must be able to stop and hunt for a couple of days when you see good moose signs; not just float all the time hoping to float up on a moose and kill it from the raft. But if you want to hunt this way, you must break camp in the dark and be floating at daylight; then float only a couple of hours, camp during the day, and start floating again about 2 hrs. before dark and float until it’s too dark to shoot. Then set up camp in the dark. This is an excellent way to hunt, but it is not for everyone as it can be very physically challenging.

Extreme Remote Float Hunt
Willow Air is doing a limited number of extreme remote float hunts. Our normal float hunts are in very good areas and by offering an extreme remote float I do not want anyone to get the idea that our normal floats are not remote. For the most part, they are just as productive if not more productive than our extreme remote floats. What makes these extreme remote floats different is they are either extremely hard to access, very long or require the use of a Supercub to access some areas.

All floats are much harder than our boat and motor fixed camp hunts due to the fact you are constantly moving camp and you have to get to a pick up point before we can pick up your moose. These extreme hunts are even more difficult. You might be hunting a river with very low water levels that requires unloading a raft to get through some low spots or it might just be an extremely long float that requires extra days to complete. Either way you must be in good physical condition for this hunt and be able to work hard.

Whenever I have done these type hunts in the past they have been very productive with around 80% success rate. All our normal hunts are 11 days with 9 days of hunting but these extreme remote hunts are usually a couple days longer due to the logistics of these locations. These areas are hard to access and over the years there has been little to no hunting pressure from anyone else. The chances of seeing anyone else in the first 75% of your float are very slim. No one else hunts these areas. When you get closer to your pickup point you could see someone but by then you should have your moose and be done hunting.

This is truly one of, if not the best self-guided moose hunts in Alaska; but with the remoteness and the logistics of getting in and out it is a very expensive area for us to do, especially if we keep the hunters to a minimum. Most outfitters would bring many more hunters into this area but we believe that would hurt the trophy quality of the animals and the quality of the hunt. Since parts of this hunt are accessed with a Supercub you must pack light and pack only in small dry bags no totes and no hard coolers.

Add-on Option
This is an add-on option for self-guided hunters.

This option is for those individuals who are looking for a self-guided hunt without the hassle of bringing all the gear and food with them.

Supplies Included
We supply all your camping gear including tent, tarps, cooking utensils, cook stove, axe, meat saw, lantern, sleeping pad, meat bags, water filter, salt for hides and food. The food will all be Mountain House so if you want a few fresh goods you can purchase them in McGrath. You will be supplied with a good high quality tent but you will be responsible for setting up your tent and camp and taking it back down.

What to bring
The only thing you need to bring with you is your personal gear, sleeping bag and, butchering equipment. These items can easily be brought with you when you fly into McGrath. Since we are outfitting this hunt, your weight limit will be 75 pounds per person.

Limited Availability
This hunt is based on a minimum of two people. We only do a limited number of these hunts so let us know early if you want this option.